A cyclone in Neptune
by Lorelei Candice Black
Summary: What happens when Veronica needs help to clear all of her friends? She calls Cabe, whom she met in New York. Scorpion comes to help. Veronica and Mac make friends with Scorpion, no crossover romance. Veronica has her brother Hunter visiting. Hunter/ralph friendship. Waige. One shot for now. Post book.


**_A cyclone in Neptune_**

 _Veronica Mars / Scorpion_

 _Walter / Paige_

 _Walter / Veronica bonding_

 _Veronica / Happy / Mac friendship._

 _Set after the first Veronica Mars Book and after the episode 1x19 of Scorpion (1x20 and after didn't happen.)_

* * *

"We have a new case." Agent Cabe Gallo announced as he entered the Garage.

He looked more determined than usual, as if this particular case was especially important to him, not to Merrick or any other office head, but to him personally. Already the members of Team Scorpion were starting to wonder if, maybe, someone else Cabe loved was in danger. After his ex-wife, maybe a niece, or a sibling, if he had any. Or maybe he had a secret girlfriend and she was the one in danger, who knew.

"Already?" Sylvester asked, turning from the blackboard on which he was currently using 5 different colors to write an elaborate calculation.

The fire had happened only the previous day and they had all been hoping for a few days to rest and work on their personal projects without having their lives put in danger. At this moment, they were all hoping for a simple " _hack in and find out what the problem is from home_ " case.

"I'm afraid so. We have to head to Neptune." The elder man replied.

"Isn't that a little beach town a few hours from here?" Paige asked and Cabe nodded.

"Why? What's going on?" Walter asked as he left the kitchen and came to stand by Paige's side and trying to ignore Toby's pointed stare, as if the shrink was telling him " _See, I was right all along, you love her._ "

But coming to stand by Paige didn't mean anything. Sylvester was presently standing near Toby and they weren't in love with each other. Toby loved Happy and he wasn't standing by her right now. It didn't mean anything.

So what if Walter always stood near Paige? It was just a coincidence. She just happen to always be right where he wanted to stand, that was all. It had nothing to do with the fact he loved how she smelled or that when he stood next to her, he always felt happier than usual. It had nothing to do with the small smiles she sent his way once in a while and nothing to do with the fact that if he stood close enough, their hands could brush and give him this sensation of peace and complete happiness deep inside. Like he belonged exactly where he was because, let's face it, he did.

"Neptune is a very corrupted town and we won't be working alone on this. We're going in to help someone already working on several cases." Cabe declared, shaking Walter out of his Paige related thoughts.

"The corruption is born in the heart of the Sheriff's department and we'll be working with a local Private Investigator into gathering as much evidence as we can to prove it. Give this town a clean slate, get the most corrupted heads arrested or at least get enough evidence to clear a few names and get the current sheriff fired and arrested. This should give the PI we're helping some time to solve an important case she has going on."

"Why is Homeland security involved?" Paige asked, confused.

This seemed far from being the kind of cases they usually came to him with.

"This private Investigator, Veronica Mars, I met her when I was in New York and I kind of owe her a favor or two... She called me last night and reminded me of the favors I owed her, asking me for help. Because she has a reputation and is going after the Sheriff and the other corrupted heads of the town, a few friends of hers are in trouble and risk going to jail if she doesn't clear their names soon. I promised I'd help, that I'd get people to help." Cabe explained, noticing that Walter was already typing away on a computer, Paige looking at his screen, over his right shoulder.

"I think that this is only half the truth. You're hiding part of your history with this Veronica Mars." Toby commented.

"It's a long story I'd rather not tell. Let's just say that I'd rather stay on her good side and so should you." Cabe shook his head.

"So we'd be doing you a favor to repay a favor you already owe?" Happy asked.

"No, you'd be paid like you are for any other case I bring you, I've made sure of it. She managed to get her hand on some information that Homeland wants so we managed to arrange something official." Cabe shook his head.

"This Veronica Mars seems interesting... Solved her best friend's murder while in high school, went after Jake Kane a couple of times too..." Walter started to comment and his voice clearly showed that he was impressed.

"Like Kane Software?" Sylvester asked as Toby started typing as well.

"Yes, he was her best friend's father, her first boyfriend's father and her mother's lover." Cabe replied.

"Quite an history." Paige whispered.

"That's not all, the sheriff's department obviously doesn't like her much. And her name comes up quite often in the local press. It looks like she could do this on her own though..." Walter added.

"She could, but she can't let people know or suspect that she's putting too much time in this or they'll start getting suspicious and try to stop her, maybe even try to pin something on her or her father. She needs people to see her and her team working on normal cases, especially those the Chamber of Commerce come to her for. If she keeps on doing both on her own, she'll never clear her friend's names on time. That's why she needs us." Cabe explained.

"She got her private detective licence when she was 18, studied in Columbia law and graduated top of her class. She even did a summer internship at the FBI! Oh, she has a degree in psychology too, she got it in Stanford. I like her. Obviously she's very smart. Given what we know of her so far, I'd say she's compulsive and has an addictive personality, but then again, we all do here. Is she like us?" Toby asked, looking back to Cabe.

"I don't know, I don't think she ever tested her IQ but I wouldn't be surprised if she was. I tried to recruit her when I met her but she was dead set on becoming a lawyer back then. She wanted to stay away from the crime fighting scene." The agent replied.

"Only half the truth again." Toby declared, letting Cabe know that he was aware that he wasn't being very truthful.

"Looks like things changed." Paige realized.

"That it did." Gallo nodded gravely.

"You're actually hoping she'll change her mind and join Homeland security, aren't you?" Paige asked him.

"That, or that she'll join your team. Unfortunately, I think I know enough of her to tell you that she'll want to stay in Neptune. She did say that if she ever went back, she'd never be able to leave again." Cabe replied.

"See, just like I said: addictive personality." Toby nodded.

"Oh, she has a sex tape." Happy commented, searching on her own computer.

"Yes, that's not really actual sex and it was done against her knowing it, in retaliation of her going after one of Hearst College's most ancient and secret society, whose members are mostly very important personalities." Cabe explained while Happy played the video on the big screen, showing it to everyone.

"Why isn't she a lawyer?" Paige asked, still looking at Walter's screen over his shoulder.

Cabe and Toby both noticed that Walter seemed perfectly comfortable with having Paige so close to him. She almost had her chin resting in his shoulder and had one of her hands on the back of his chair while the other one was on his other shoulder and the genius seemed perfectly comfortable with that when he hated it and was uncomfortable when it was anyone else.

"She was about to get a great job in one of New York's most prestigious lawyer firms when one of her old... friend, I guess, got accused of a murder he didn't commit because he was the easy choice for the sheriff's department. Maybe you heard of it, the Bonnie DeVille's murder case? She came back in town to clear his name, found the real culprit and decided to stay and work in her father's Private Investigation's office to try and clean the town."

"You seem to know a lot about her." Walter commented.

"We kind of worked on a couple of cases together when we were in New York. I would probably be dead without her help."

"Still not telling it all. You're still hiding something to us about your relationship with her." Toby commented.

"Let's just leave it at that." Cabe shook his head, refusing to tell them of the time he spent with Veronica and got to know her, especially because it could lead to facts he didn't want Walter to find out about the Baghdad incident.

"Okay then, we'll help you." Walter nodded.

"How long will we be gone?" Paige asked Cabe while the others started packing.

"A few days, I'm not sure how many... If you want to take Ralph with you, you can. When she called, Veronica told me that she has her newly discovered half brother, Hunter, with her for the next week. Her father will be happy to watch over the two of them while we work on the case, whenever they're not with us at the office that is. He'd usually work on it with us but he recently fell down some stairs and he has to rest because of recent injuries that weren't done healing when he fell, which is another reason why veronica needs our help on this."

"Being a PI can be a very dangerous job." Sylvester nodded.

"Great, I'll go and pick Ralph up from the sitter right away, ask him to pack a bag and we'll be back here in a couple of hours." She smiled.

"Do you want me to drive you?" Walter asked her, placing a gentle hand on her arm to stop her from leaving before he got his answer.

"No, I'll be fine, thanks. Plus, you need to pack, too." She smiled before going for the door.

"Just how dangerous is this going to be?" Sylvester asked.

"Don't worry, we'll keep away from face to face confrontations as much as possible. You should be pretty safe." Cabe replied.

"Where will we be staying?" Happy asked.

"Veronica has a free room that she's offered. I think Paige and Ralph will stay with her, they can claim to be old friends from New York or something. That will explain why nobody knows them and why they're spending time with her. Her employee and friend, Mac, also has a free room that she's offered. I'm thinking Sylvester or Happy can use it, claim they met in College or something like that. There's an available apartment next to Mars Investigations, it's small but the rest of us will be fine in there." Cabe replied.

"Why don't we stay in a hotel or something?" Toby asked.

"Because people would get suspicious, especially in a town like Neptune." Agent Gallo replied simply while everyone started heading in different direction to gather what they would need.

"So, you don't have feelings for Paige but you can't even get yourself to erase a drawing of the two of you in a heart. You don't treat her any different than the rest of us but you offer to drive her home and back here while you know that she has a working and safe car and that you should be packing and preparing for the case..." Toby started to comment.

"Not now Toby." Walter replied.

"What's going on?" Cabe asked.

"Walter refuses to admit that he's in love with Paige." Toby replied.

"That's ridiculous, I don't feel _Love_." Walter rolled his eyes.

"Oh, so that was what the cartoon on the whiteboard was all about." Cabe nodded.

"Of course you do, you feel it for Paige, we all know it. That's why you put cinnamon in the coffee and spray Lavender in your office. Even Megan agrees with us on this." Sylvester argued.

"Leave my sister out of this. I don't believe in romantic Love and I have an EQ too low to feel it." Walter argued.

"I think you're EQ has improved a lot since Paige started working with us. Maybe you do have a romantic EQ, it's just... Paige's shaped." Happy commented.

"Guys, leave him alone. We all agree that Walter is in Love with Paige, he just needs some time to get used to it, to admit it to himself. Hopefully he'll open his eyes before it's too late." Cabe replied with a smile.

"Just... Start packing." Walter said, rushing upstairs to gather his things.

.

A couple of hours later, they were all in the car that Cabe was driving, theirs bags stuffed in the trunk and their lap tops and personal material under their feet.

"So the cyclone migrates temporarily?" Ralph asked in a small voice, happy to be going with them in what could only be, in his mind, a great adventure filled with wander.

"Yes, we're on for another mission." Toby nodded before Paige or Walter, who were sitting side by side in the very back seat, could do anything.

"Will I be able to help?" Ralph asked nobody in particular.

"I don't think so buddy, but you'll have a friend to play with." Walter replied.

"We'll make sure you have fun." Paige added.

"Good. Maybe I'll even be able to help out some." The little boy insisted.

* * *

"Veronica, are you sure that this is a good idea? Do we trust the government now?" Mac asked Veronica after she reminded her associate that Agent Cabe Gallo and his team would arrive in less than 15 minutes.

"I trust him and his team." Veronica nodded.

"What kind of a name is _Scorpion_ anyway?" Mac shook her head.

"Something to do with their leader, Walter O'Brien and the code name he used when he hacked into the NASA when he was a kid." Veronica shrugged her shoulders.

"I just... I'm not sure I like the idea of a team full of self claimed geniuses going around my computer." Mac admitted.

"Walter O'Brien has an IQ of 197, I'm sure they won't do your baby any harm." The blond chuckled.

"What if they criticize my work?" Mac asked.

"That's actually what's worrying you, isn't it? That they might be smarter than you?" Veronica laughed.

"Don't mock me! Doesn't it bother you at all?"

"A bit, but we need to focus on the tasks at hand: clearing Weevil's name." Veronica shook her head.

"And make sure the fake charges against Wallace are dropped before he looses his job." Mac added.

"And stop this idiot Lamb once and for all, hoping they don't have a third brother waiting to take the job." Veronica nodded.

"But if this Cabe Gallo betrayed his protege Walter to drop bombs on Baghdad, what makes you think that we can trust him?"

"I told you, there's more to it than that and he's trying to do better, I think we all understand that." Veronica argued.

"Fine, but if any of them hurt my baby, I'll borrow your taser." Mac decided, making Veronica chuckle before she went back to the office she shared with her father to clear a few spots for them.

"By the way, shouldn't Weevil and Cliff be here? I thought they were helping?" Mac asked, raising her voice to be heard.

"They should be here soon with donuts for everyone."

"Cool, I'll start the coffee then?"

"That could be a good idea." Veronica nodded.

"Don't you feel bad leaving Hunter with your dad? I mean, he came to spend the week with you and you're always working..." Mac asked her.

"I talked with him about it, he understands. I'll see him for lunch when we go over to dad's place and he'll spend the afternoon with me. I just have a stake out at the Camelot, then we'll come back here." Veronica replied.

"Cool, I like the little dude." Mac nodded.

"So do I, he's fun. Do you think I should take Dick's case?" Veronica asked Mac a few seconds later, thinking of the call her boyfriend's best friend had given her the previous afternoon.

"Well, Dick is many things but he wouldn't lie about knocking a kid out with his surfboard while on the beach. Especially at 11 in the morning. I mean, the Beach is always packed at this time and suddenly nobody saw anything? They might be accusing him because he's your boyfriend's best friend." Mac replied.

"I know, and it would damage my relationship with Logan if I don't help him."

"Especially since he helped you last time. Remember, the party, the knife..."

"You're right. It shouldn't be too hard to find evidence that he was at home, right?"

"I can try and look into his home security data? See if he has video surveillance or code entries registered..." Mac suggested.

"Or if they have been erased or tempered with by whomever framed him, Weevil and Wallace." Veronica nodded.

"I'll get right on it, that'll keep me busy until the geniuses arrive."

"Now you just sound jealous Mackie. Come on, maybe we'll get along just fine."

"Here's to hoping." Mac replied, toasting the air with her coffee mug before she started typing away on her computer.

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Ralph asked, looking up from his game for the first time since they left.

"Just about 15 more minutes pal." Walter replied while Paige slept, her head on Walter's shoulder.

Ralph nodded and went back to his game, smiling at the sight of his mother, sleeping with a smile on her face while Walter had his arm around her shoulders and, when he thought nobody was looking, he followed his instinct and dropped a kiss on her forehead.

"Ready to admit it yet, Walt?" Toby asked Walter.

"I don't know what your talking about." Walter denied.

"You never let me sleep on your shoulder and you never kiss my forehead when I sleep. So either you like me less than the others or you like Paige a lot more." Toby replied, pointing to the window in which Walter reflected a bit.

"Just... Don't wake her up." Walter said, shaking his head in denial.

"Maybe you should start to wake her up Walter, we'll be there soon and we don't know how long it takes her to be awake and ready." Sylvester advised his best friend.

"Fine, just... leave her alone. Don't bother her about this." Walter replied.

"Mom likes you too, Walter. She even dreams about you." Ralph mentioned, not looking up from his game.

"How do you know?" Happy asked the boy curiously.

"She speaks his name in her sleep and when she wakes up, she's always in a better mood than usual." Ralph replied, shrugging his shoulders.

Walter pretended he didn't hear what Ralph had just said and he gently shook Paige awake so she'd be ready once they arrived. Already they were driving through what looked like warehouses.

"It shouldn't be far now, look for a sign that says Mars Investigation. Their logo is an eye in a triangle." Cabe told them.

"Here, I see it." Ralph exclaimed, pointing to a building a few feet away from them on their right.

Cabe parked his car as close to the entrance as he could and they all got out of the car, leaving their overnight bags inside and only grabbing their equipment before they followed Cabe to the building.

"Here goes nothing." The federal agent muttered before opening the door and leading the way inside.

"Have you been here before?" Ralph asked the elder man.

"No, I haven't."

By now they were in front of what they guessed was the secretary's desk.

"Veronica, your Scorpion guests are here." The young woman at the desk called.

"Agent Cabe Gallo... I have to say, I thought you'd end up coming alone. I didn't think your protege would have forgiven you." Veronica said as she entered the room, nodding to Walter when she said ' _protege_ ', letting them know that she had done her researches on them.

"Because you wouldn't have forgiven me?" He asked her, already knowing the answer.

"Federal agent or not, if you had done to me what you did to him, I would have tasered you in the balls, consequences be damned." Veronica smirked.

"And yet you're the one who told me I should try to make it up to him." Cabe replied.

"It was in a moment of weakness." Veronica shrugged her shoulders.

"I believe your words were ' _Don't do like my mother did after she screwed up. Don't stay away. Find him and find a way to make things right_.' I just followed your advise." He smiled.

"Yeah well, I still would have tasered you." Veronica smiled before Cabe introduced her to his team.

"You didn't taser your mom when she showed up a few weeks ago and it's not like she tried to make it up to you." Mac pointed out.

"I didn't let her back in either." Veronica pointed out.

"Good point." Mac nodded.

"This is pretty advanced equipment for a secretary." Walter said, pointing to Mac's computers and changing the subject.

"Mac's not a secretary." Veronica replied.

"I'm not a secretary." Mac said at the same time as Veronica did.

"It would involve some _people skills_." Veronica added, smiling in Mac's direction.

"You're one to speak, I'm not the one most people are afraid of, here." Mac chuckled.

"Me? I love people, I'm a people person!" Veronica teased.

"We have Paige, she's our people person." Sylvester intervened nervously.

Cabe was about to speak when Weevil and Cliff arrived with a large box full of donuts so Veronica did the introductions and they all sat around, listening as she exposed the situations. The cases they needed to clear as fast as possible and the people they needed to watch out for.

"Although, there is something about Weevil's case that we need to be careful with. Celeste Kane is the one who shot him and if she's involved, then her ex husband could be as well. If Jake Kane is involved..." Veronica started and stopped, looking at Mac.

"You think the Castle could be involved? Why didn't you tell me? I still have a copy of everything we got from Jake Kane's hard drive. Wait, is that why you asked for his help?" Mac asked, pointing to Agent Gallo.

"I didn't want to consider it but we have to face the evidence, it could be true... And yes, I asked for Cabe's help because they're dangerous, we both know how far they'd be willing to go to win or hide something and we both know how twisted some of their members are." Veronica nodded.

"The Castle? What's this?" Paige asked.

Veronica proceeded to explain everything to team Scorpion, including what they had done to hack into the hard drive. Already, the team was looking at Mac and Veronica as if they were a part of their team, like them.

"I'd love a reason to hack into Kane Software." Walter declared.

"Can I help?" Ralph asked, hopeful.

"I don't think so, Ralph. You're staying out of anything that could be dangerous. Hacking into a Japanese submarine to fire rockets on Valentine's day is enough involvement for a year." Paige told her son who nodded and went to look at the fish tank by the wall.

"So, how do we do this?" Sylvester asked.

"Well, you can start by settling whatever you need in my office over there, you can also use my father's office. Then we'll all go to my father's place for lunch. There, we'll decide who will stay where and who will work on what. Splitting up might be a good idea. Mac is closing as many cases as she can online, I have a stake out to do this afternoon but the rest of you might want to get started on finding out who framed Weevil, Wallace and Dick and how they did it." Veronica declared.

"Aren't we worried about the why?" Sylvester asked.

"The why is that this town was built on a hell mouth." Veronica replied.

"Or that they don't like you and are trying to get you to back off from Weevil's case by putting more of your friends in trouble." Mac smirked.

"Or that." Veronica nodded.

"I have to say that I'm a bit surprised, I thought Cabe was exaggerating when he described your town. It might actually be sitting on a hell mouth." Toby shook his head.

"This is how it is in this town, it was this way before my father became sheriff and it went back to being that way as soon as he was fired from office. The innocent suffer, the guilty go free, and truth and fiction are pretty much interchangeable... There is neither a Santa Claus, nor an Easter Bunny, and there are no angels watching over us in Neptune. Things just happen for no reason, and nothing makes any sense, unless you admit to yourself that people here are mostly evil." Veronica replied very pessimistically.

"And yet you can't bring yourself to leave again." Happy nodded.

"Can't help it, this is still my home and I'll probably live my entire life trying to clean it up." Veronica nodded.

"But, it's safe, right?" Sylvester asked nervously before Walter signaled for them all to start moving.

Immediately, Walter's team started settling their equipment and looking at the files they were needed for and Cabe used this opportunity to speak with Veronica privately.

"Veronica..." he started.

"Let me guess, you haven't told him the entire truth and you want me to keep the secret?" She guessed.

"I'd appreciate that, yes."

"You know how I feel about lies. Especially the lies told from a parent to a child."

"The truth would destroy him."

"No, it will destroy your present relationship with him, and then you'd be able to truly rebuild it on solid grounds. That's what I really advised you to do and you know it." Veronica replied.

"Please."

"By the time this mission is over, if you haven't told him, I will." Veronica told Cabe before joining Paige and telling her where she kept the video games if she wanted to use it for her son.

Cliff left at that point, reminding them that he did have a job to do, people to bail out of jail and lawsuits to prepare. He promised that he'd be in touch with Veronica in case they needed him.

"Oh, I used to have one of those, but it was green." Sylvester exclaimed, brandishing a large pink pen he had found on Veronica's desk.

"What is it?" Paige asked.

"It's a spy pen. You can put messages up there." Veronica nodded.

"Yeah, I remember that I didn't have anyone to use it with." Sylvester nodded sadly, remembering his lonely teenage years.

"And you use it on a daily basis?" Toby asked, surprised she'd use something so primitive.

"No, it used to belong to my best friend. I found it after her death, I keep it as a reminder. You know, a way to keep her around. " Veronica explained, placing the pink pen back in its rightful place.

"You really kept Lilly's spy pen?" Weevil asked her.

"I retired it. It's resting from its busy past as a love letter and sex note carrier." She replied with a smile, thinking of the time Lilly first showed her the pen, when she had predicted the pen would be a very busy one.

"So, you seem to know a lot about Cabe... How close are the two of you?" Walter asked Veronica while Mac showed the rest of the team where they stored their own equipment.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to steal him away from you. I have a great father and I'm not looking for a second one. Cabe's all yours buddy." She smiled.

"But you know about Baghdad?" He asked her.

"I do."

"You think I shouldn't have forgiven him?"

"I don't know enough about you and your relationship with him to answer that." She replied, aware that Paige was watching them for the corner of her eyes.

"But you do trust him." He pointed out.

"To help me save my friends, right now? I do. But I don't know if I'd trust him with something more personal. Then again, I'm not the most trusting person there is. I have issues." She smiled.

"Most of us do." Walter nodded, pointing to the other genius members of his team.

"One thing I've learned about trust, you give it to the people you love but the people who really deserve it are the ones who come through, even when you don't trust them enough at the time. I usually wait for them to prove they deserve my trust before I give it to them but it's not always the best course of action." Veronica explained.

"Wise." He nodded.

"So, you and Paige are together?" Veronica asked him.

"What? No! I... I don't believe in romantic love." Walter replied loud enough that everyone turned to look at them.

"I don't blame you. Love is a dangerous thing. Personally, it makes me lazy. Love kills more brain cells than crystal meth." Mac replied.

"That's only because you haven't met _the one_ yet." Weevil chuckled.

"Yeah, love stinks. You can dress it up in sequins and shoulder pads, but one way or another, you're just gonna end up alone at the spring dance, in uncomfortable underwear." Veronica replied, memories playing in her head.

"I hope not." Walter muttered, making Ralph giggle.

"Speaking from experience, there I see." Toby mentioned.

"Does this mean that you had a fight with Logan last night?" Mac asked.

"Yeah, he was late, the connection was bad, I was tired and he signed off before I could get some of the closure I needed... Distance is hard." Veronica nodded.

"Yeah well, I'm far from being a genius but I can assure you that romantic love is real." Weevil declared.

"What you need to know is that Walter only pretends that he doesn't believe in romantic love, because he's not ready to admit that he..." Toby started to tell Mac but Walter interrupted him:

"Toby enough!"

"Don't worry, your secret feelings for Paige are safe with me, but you might want to tell her before someone else does and steals her from you. By the looks she gives you, I can tell your feelings are returned but a girl needs closure and she might end up giving up on you if you take too long to go to her." Veronica whispered to Walter before changing the subject to the Castle.

* * *

When lunch time arrived, Veronica lead everyone, but Weevil who needed to go home to his daughter and wife, to her father's house so they could eat together and so she could spend some time with her half brother. She knew that Paige wanted to leave Ralph somewhere safe so Hunter and Ralph would probably spend the afternoon at Mars Investigation.

Paige was in the car with Veronica while Mac was with the rest of team Scorpion, showing them the way. Ralph had insisted to stay with Walter and Paige had agreed, knowing her son would be safe with the genius.

"You know, you don't have anything to worry about, I'm taken and even if things are complicated, I'm not looking to replace Logan. I'm not going to try and take Walter away or anything." Veronica told her with a smile.

"I... How did you...? Right, they said you have a degree in psychology." Paige nodded.

"You just need to give him time, trust me on this." Veronica confided.

"Did he tell you something about me?" The mother asked with an hopeful voice.

"He didn't need to."

"I... Thanks." Paige nodded, trying to hide her soft blush.

"So, what happened with Ralph's dad? Is he still in the picture at all?" Veronica asked.

"He left when Ralph was 2. He plays ball for a living. It's minor league but it wasn't the kind of life I wanted for my son. We moved and I busted my ass working two jobs so Ralph would have a decent life. Then I met Walter and his team and they helped me understand my son, they became family. That's when Drew came back. Now he's trying to rule our lives. He got a job in Portland and he wants us to relocate there with him, he uses any excuses to try and convince me." Paige replied honestly.

"He left. I know how your son feels. My mom left when I was 16, right after my best friend was murdered. Then she came back and I made the mistake of trusting her. I spent all of my college savings to put her into rehab and she blew it, came back here, stole 50 grand we just earned on a big job and really needed before she disappeared on us again. A few weeks ago I stumbled on her on a case, learned that she had remarried and that I had a half brother. Apparently, she's holding on for him, something she couldn't do for me."

"You're still angry at her." Paige realized.

"She hurt me and my dad, I can't forgive her for that, even if I can be civil for my brother's sake. I know that eventually, she'll screw up and leave him, so I do my best to be part of his life, to be able to help him when it happens."

"So, I take it that you think I shouldn't give Drew another chance."

"You obviously don't have feelings for him anymore. In my opinion, the hero is the one that stays, the villain is the one that splits. His dad might be here now, but he left once, even now you say he's playing in Portland instead of truly committing to his child and staying in LA with you. I think it says it all about his priorities. Is he even able to bond with Ralph?" Veronica asked.

"Well, he couldn't at first but then Walter helped him. He gives him advises but you're right, Drew doesn't understand Ralph like I do, or even like Walter does, he doesn't even try. He wants him to be like every other child, he doesn't want to understand that he's different, that he can't play like others do." Paige nodded.

"I've seen enough already to guess that your son likes Walter like a son loves his father. I see it in the way he looks at him, it's the same way I look at my dad." Veronica smiled.

"Walter is great with Ralph, when I see them together, I can't help but want more. That, added to my feelings for Walter makes me long for more, wish for Walter to come home with us at the end of the day, be a real family. I can barely remember what my life was like before I met him, everything changed so much..." Paige confessed, already feeling like she could trust Veronica.

"I heard some people can predict when a change is coming in their life. I'm not one of them, change has a way of just walking up and punching me in the face." Veronica commented.

"I wouldn't put meeting Walter and his team like a punch in the face, but something a bit softer and just as radical, that's for sure." Paige chuckled.

"We're here. I see Wallace is already in there too. Good." Veronica smiled, getting out of Logan's car and leading Paige to the door while Cabe parked his car next to hers.

* * *

"What do you think Paige and Veronica are talking about?" Walter asked Toby while Mac guided Cabe on his way to Veronica's house, following behind Logan's convertible.

"That's easy to find out." Mac exclaimed before she added:

"Veronica had me set up something in the car in case she got into trouble, I can link her audio system to this one and we'll all hear what they're talking about." Mac explained.

"Smart." Happy approved.

"Go ahead, do it." Toby nodded.

"No, that's private." Walter shook his head.

"But what if they're talking about you? Don't you want to know?" Ralph asked him.

"I think that's what scares him." Toby chuckled.

"Leave the kid alone, if he doesn't want to hear, that his choice." Cabe spoke out, feeling like a father grounding his children.

"I want to see how it works." Ralph asked Mac who smiled, nodded and showed him how to make the connection.

As soon as Mac was done connecting the two audio system, using her smart phone, Veronica's voice could be heard through the speakers:

 _"You obviously don't have feelings for him anymore. In my opinion, the hero is the one that stays, the villain is the one that splits. His dad might be here now, but he left once, even now you say he's playing in Portland instead of truly committing to his child and staying in LA with you. I think it says it all about his priorities. Is he even able to bond with Ralph?"_ They heard Veronica's voice asking Paige.

Immediately, Walter and Ralph sat up straighter, showing they were listening to the two women's conversation.

 _"Well, he couldn't at first but then Walter helped him. He gives him advises but you're right, Drew doesn't understand Ralph like I do, or even like Walter does. He wants him to be like every other child, he doesn't want to understand that he's different, that he can't play like others do."_ Paige replied.

Walter smiled when Paige said his name and Toby sent him a pointed look, confirming that Paige had used a different tone to say Walter's name, a tone that said it all.

" _I've seen enough already to guess that your son likes Walter like a son loves his father. I see it in the way he looks at him, it's the same way I look at my dad._ " Veronica replied and Ralph looked up at Walter, who was looking down on him and they both smiled silently, confirming to each other that they did feel like this.

 _"Walter is great with Ralph, when I see them together, I can't help but want more. That, added to my feelings for Walter makes me long for more, wish for Walter to come home with us, be a real family. I can barely remember what my life was like before I met him, everything changed so much..._ " After hearing Paige's confession, Walter smiled and he seemed to have a new determination in his eyes.

Toby was about to say something in response to what they had heard but Happy hit him over the head while Cabe asked him to shut it.

" _I heard some people can predict when a change is coming in their life. I'm not one of them, change has a way of just walking up and punching me in the face._ " Veronica said and Walter said:

"I think we've heard enough, we should turn this off."

"We're almost here anyway." Mac nodded but before she turned it off, they heard Paige reply to Veronica with a chuckle:

" _I wouldn't put meeting Walter and his team like a punch in the face, but something a bit softer and just as radical, that's for sure_."

Before he got out of the car, Walter asked everyone to keep what they heard a secret and they all agreed.

"Well, I'll probably tell Veronica because she's my best friend, but I'll wait for you to be back to LA before I do and I know that she won't tell Paige." Mac added with a smile.

* * *

As it turned out, Hunter and Ralph got along pretty well, just like Keith and Cabe did. They two little boys immediately started playing together while the adults discussed what needed to be done.

Wallace stayed just half an hour, long enough to meet the Scorpion team, because he needed to go back to work but the rest of them had a good time and they were able to find assignments for everyone.

They decided that Keith would stay at home to rest and since Veronica's stake out of the afternoon was an easy one, without any danger, her half brother and Ralph would go with her. Once she was done, she'd join Walter and Paige wherever they were and they would all meet back at Mars Investigation when this was done.

"I have to say, I'm kind of excited about this." Sylvester admitted.

"You? You're excited about something that could turn out dangerous? Are you sick, Sly?" Toby joked.

"Oh come on, we get to hack into Kane Software!" Sylvester smiled.

"So, who's going to end up having to speak with the cleverly named Dick Casablanca?" Mac asked in a tone that clearly showed that she didn't want to be that person.

"Cleverly named?" Cabe asked.

"Oh yeah." Veronica nodded.

"I think we should send Toby and Happy his way." Cabe suggested.

"Excellent idea." Veronica nodded, already imagining a hot tempered Happy dealing with Dick and his wandering hands and eyes.

"It's not going to be fun for me, is it?" Happy asked Veronica.

"Maybe not, but if you record the scene for me, I'm sure **I** 'll enjoy it." The blond PI replied, making everyone chuckle.

"So will I so please record it. We do need to laugh at Dick's expenses once in while." Mac added.

"Like in a few weeks when he'll have forgotten that he owed us and turned back into his normal self." Veronica commented.

.

"Do you really do this all the time?" Ralph asked Veronica.

"I used to, then I stopped, thinking I'd be happier away from here, doing other things, but now I'm back and this is what I do, what I'm meant to do." Veronica replied.

"Like destiny?" Ralph asked doubtfully, not hiding that he didn't believe in this principle.

"You could say that." Veronica nodded.

"Is it dangerous?" The genius boy asked and Veronica could see her brother's interest in the answer.

"It can be sometimes, but I'm always careful and today it's not. Don't worry, I wouldn't have taken you if there was a risk." She replied.

"Sometimes, mom and Walter are in danger because of their job too."

"Don't worry, today they should be safe."

"I'm not worried." Ralph smiled.

"You're not?" Hunter asked.

"No. Mom is always safe when she's with Walter. He won't let anything happen to her because he loves her and you protect the people you love. It's the way it works in the cyclone, in our family." Ralph explained, making Veronica smile.

While Veronica snapped the money shots she needed to close this case and to get paid, Ralph and Hunter started a new conversation about music. Ralph was telling his new friend of a case concerning music that Scorpion had to handle while Hunter listened, very interested in what his new friend had to say.

.

Veronica was done sooner than she thought she would and so she drove the boys back to Mars Investigations (after stopping for Ice creams on the way) where Walter and Paige and just gotten back as well.

"How did it go?" Mac asked since they all arrived at the same time.

"It was great!" Ralph replied excitedly.

"Walter managed to hack Jake Kane's personal computer with Sylvester's help. We have enough proof that your suspicions were right." Paige told Veronica.

"Veronica is very rarely wrong." Mac complimented.

"For a professional, he might want to place better protections on his computers. We have emails, video chats... Everything you need to have the charges against your friends dropped." Walter replied, handing Veronica his lap top with the information they had.

Veronica looked at what they had gathered and knew that it wouldn't be enough. It was a good start, but she'd need more to force the Castle to leave her and her friends alone. She also needed more to get rid of the current incompetent sheriff.

"It's the Castle, they're bound to have more video evidence of it in case they need to turn against one of their own." Veronica insisted.

"It could be on his home computer Veronica, just like the other hard drive." Mac suggested.

"I won't be able to break in a second time, they shut the dog trap down..." Veronica shook her head.

"Dog trap?" Paige asked and Mac smiled before she explained how Veronica first broke into Kane Software.

"Maybe we can do it." Walter suggested.

"Let's look into it until Toby and Happy come back. I have a file with the blueprint of his and his neighbors houses along with their security info and everything you could possibly need." Veronica nodded.

"That and more." Mac added while Veronica showed them the way to her own personal safe in her office.

Veronica took a large file and a USB key from her safe and handed it all to Walter while Hunter showed Ralph where the Popsicle were. They all looked over the file and discussed every possible scenario with Sylvester and Cabe before Toby and Happy came back.

"You two have been gone a while..." Sylvester started to comment before he saw the angry look on Happy's face.

"That man is an insult to mankind, this planet and the entire universe." Happy snapped before going to the coffeemaker.

"I take it that Dick wasn't on his best behavior then..." Mac said.

"I hope not. This one needs some serious couch time." Toby shook his head.

"What did he do? Touch her inappropriately or something?" Veronica asked Toby in a voice low enough that the boys didn't hear her.

In her head, Veronica thought that any touch that came from Dick Casablanca was inappropriate but she chose not to say it out loud.

"Not really but he kept on flirting with her, even when I obviously laid claim on her. He refused to look her in the eyes and kept on staring at her chest and calling her 'lady', which she hated. And his general behavior was... I mean, is he mentally retarded or something? Did something happen to him? Can he even take anything seriously?" Toby replied.

"He can, when it's extremely important and he's very drunk." Mac replied.

"When isn't he drunk?" Veronica rolled her eyes.

"Do you guys have something for me to hit?" Happy asked when she joined them in the room again.

"Actually we might. Tomorrow, we're breaking into Jake Kane's house but we need to make sure that we won't be interrupted. Veronica offered to distract his head of security Clarence Wiedman, apparently they have history and she'll be able to do it without being found but we need someone to keep Jake Kane distracted..." Paige explained from her spot, right next to Walter.

"So what? Do I just attack him without a motive?" Happy frowned.

"I was thinking something more along the lines of a car crash." Cabe shook his head.

"Fine." Happy nodded.

.

As it turned out, breaking into Jake Kane's house to get more evidence on his home computer had been easy. Since Celeste had divorced the man, she wasn't in the house. Jake was at work and the maid, alone in the house, was a friend of Weevil's wife who agreed to call in sick for the day. Walter, Veronica, Mac and Sylvester were able to quietly go inside and take everything they needed.

Just like they had guessed, he had kept many proofs on his personal home computer and Veronica was even able to update her Castle member list and confession database.

"I can't believe he kept a copy of his phone conversation with the sheriff!" Mac shook her head.

"It's the castle way. Always keep a copy." Veronica replied.

"Yes but considering the domain he works in, shouldn't he be a little bit more careful?" Sylvester asked.

"That's rich people for you, the richer they are, the bigger is their ego and self confidence. They think they're untouchable, which is why they make it so easy for me to do this." Veronica replied before she stopped in her tracks in front of Lilly's portrait.

"You're okay?" Mac asked her.

"Yes, let's go." She nodded, leading them all out of the house.

Seeing picture or portraits of Lilly and Duncan always brought back painful memories so veronica tried to avoid it when possible.

.

All in all, the two teams cleared up everything quite easily and, as a bonus, made great friends with each others. In less than 4 days, Veronica's friends were safe and cleared, the sheriff was facing time in jail for everything they had discovered against him, Jake Kane was in a hot seat with the other members of the Castle and Veronica had him in the palm of her hand.

Everything was perfect.

Paige had even taken the time to speak with Walter one evening before they left while Veronica took Ralph and Hunter out with her dad. She knew that her son was safe and would have fun, she already trusted Veronica as if they had been friends for years before that. Paige had asked Walter to go with her to the beach with a small picnic and they had sat nervously together for a few minutes before Paige gathered her courage and started the conversation.

"So... Do you know why I wanted us to come here alone? What I wanted to talk about?" She asked him.

"I... I think so." He nodded.

"And... Do you have any objection to us having this conversation?" She asked him again, knowing how he felt about romantic feelings.

"No, I... I think it's time we had it. Toby has been pressing me about this and I... I want to know where we stand." He shook his head.

"Just so we're clear, we're speaking about feelings that are more than friendly, right?" She wanted to clarify.

"Yes, a... absolutely." He nodded, looking at the horizon in front of him instead of at her.

"Listen Walter, my most important thing right now is Ralph and before we talk about anything, I want it to be clear that you're relationship with my son won't be affected by whatever happens between us. Even is we eventually get together and break up, I want to be sure that you'll still have the same relationship with my son." She told him before they started really speaking about anything else.

"Of course, Ralph is very important to me as well and I just want him to be happy, and safe." He nodded, agreeing to her demand.

"Good. Very good." She smiled, suddenly feeling shy about bringing up the subject of their feelings.

"I... It took me a while to admit it." Walter declared suddenly.

"Admit what?" Paige asked him.

"My feelings for you, to admit that they were there and that they had probably been there since the first time I saw you." he confessed, making her smile.

"What made you realize it?"

"An equation Toby wrote on a whiteboard."

"An equation?" Now Paige was confused and it made Walter smile.

"It reported the changes in my behavior ever since we met you, the lavender in my office, the cinnamon in the coffee, my EQ that seems to be growing, the fact that I acted more recklessly when Drew was around..." He explained.

"He used that opportunity to complain about the cinnamon, didn't he?" She chuckled, trying to ease things for him.

"He did, apparently, it's for elves only." Walter nodded with an amused smile.

"It has a lot of great properties, and it tastes very good." Paige argued.

"I tried telling him that."

"So... Your feelings for me... How... What..." Paige was trying to find the best way to ask him how much he loved her and what he wanted them to be but she just couldn't find the right words.

"I love you Paige, I've never felt this much for anybody before and... I really don't like it when Drew is near you. I think it's jealousy, something I've never felt before either. I think we should take things one step at the time because I want it to work and I don't want to screw things up." Walter bravely declared.

"I... I love you too Walter and taking things one step at the time seems like the right way to go." She nodded with a soft smile, feeling much calmer now that the big 'I love you' was out of the way.

"So...Are you excited about going back home tomorrow?" he asked her.

"I am. I love Veronica and Mac but this town gives me the creeps." She nodded.

"I know what you mean, I don't know how Veronica and Mac manage to live here all the time." Walter replied, moving a little bit so that he was now sitting right next to Paige, to the point that their hands were touching.

Enjoying the beach and their quiet evening, they talked about many subjects while they ate and, slowly, got closer until, before desert, Walter initiated a kiss with Paige, sealing their relationship with it.

.

The next morning, everyone met one last time at Mars investigation. Veronica gave Cabe the information she had promised Homeland security and reminded him that he needed to speak with Walter. Nodding, Cabe decided to wait until they were home.

"It was very nice to meet you Veronica, please come and see us soon." Paige said before she hugged Veronica goodbye.

"I will, and I'm glad things worked out the way you wanted with Walter." Veronica replied.

"I probably would have never talked to him without your little push. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Veronica nodded.

She had given her cellphone number to everyone and had promised Ralph that she'd talk to Leanne about letting Hunter visit him in LA sometime Until then, the two boys would keep in touch through emails.

* * *

 **I thought I'd make this much longer but I lost inspiration through the story so I understand if you get a bit disappointed by the result.**

 **I might make it longer or rewrite it later, until then, a little review will be much welcome.**

 **Lorelei Candice Black**


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